Industry leaders expect several large players to jump in
Despite the bullying players inflict on traditional gaming companies dipping their toes into non-fungible tokens (NFT), executives working in the NFT gaming industry are hopeful that more traditional gaming firms will jump into the space this year.
From mainstream gaming companies jumping in, to the relevance of NFT gaming models such as play-to-earn (P2E) and move-to-earn (M2E), various industry insiders shared their insights on NFT gaming trends in 2023.
Aleksander Larsen, the co-founder of Sky Mavis, the team behind the popular P2E game Axie Infinity, told Cointelegraph that it is only a matter of time before more big players enter the space. However, Larsen also believes that these companies will hold out until they see a game generate billions in revenue.
Aside from game-focused studios, Larsen pointed out that tech giants like Google were involved, mentioning how Google Cloud also runs a Ronin Network validator. “I’m excited to see big tech giants like Google and Microsoft get even deeper into the blockchain gaming industry,” he added.
When asked about the relevance of P2E in 2023, the Sky Mavis boss admitted that the model is currently flawed. He explained that:
“As the pioneers behind the first play-2-earn game, I can confidently say that it does not work in its current state. Games need to be fun first with a solid financial support, which can enable some players to earn.”
Zoe Wei, senior business director at BNB Chain, echoed Larsen’s thoughts. According to the manager, further experimentation and analysis is needed to make the token economies of most games sustainable.
“The focus was too strong on the earning mechanism and not enough on the enjoyment of gaming,” Wei said. Despite this, Wei still believes that both P2E and M2E concepts will be relevant in 2023, although more improvement needs to be done.
Aside from the NFT game models, Wei also commented on the topic of traditional game makers entering the space. Wei believes that blockchain technology and NFTs have “undeniable benefits” for game makers and players. “We’ve already seen countless game studios commit to Web3 over the past year, and this is a trend that will continue into 2023,” he added.
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Meanwhile, Carlos Pereira, a partner at Bitkraft Ventures, a gaming-focused venture capital firm, is also convinced that more gaming companies will emerge this year. He explained that:
“In 2022, we saw many funding rounds related to spin-off projects from traditional gaming companies in the US and Europe, and we expect the trend to continue, with some high-profile public launches in 2023.”
Pereira also mentioned that while Asian gaming firms are more public about their crypto push, Western firms are also getting in, but are “more cautious about PR.” The manager still believes that the trend will continue.
When asked about P2E, the manager argued that the first iteration of the concept should be phased out. “We hope this first implementation of play-to-earn is buried forever,” he said. According to Pereira, such a concept makes no sense as a business model, as it had no way of attracting players who would pay to play.
As for other NFT gaming trends in 2023, Alex Altgausen, the co-founder of NFT game Banksters, said that community members in 2023 will have higher standards. According to Altgausen, 2021 and 2022 acted as filters, revealing NFT games that are only looking to exploit users. He explained that:
“The era of everyone with a cute website and a game promise is over.”
This means that 2023 will have NFT gaming investors who don’t dive in easily and are able to check assets, product development, partnerships and media footprints before putting money into NFT gaming.
